Cats and Campfires
by BobDTigr
Summary: Alya and Nino come up with the ultimate plan to get their friends Marinette and Adrien together- a fun camping trip! Full of mischief and mishaps, the four of them have a fantastic adventure, and if all goes well, end up closer than they'd ever been before.
1. Phase One: Train Rides and Baguettes

**Chapter One**

* * *

 _Beeep. Beeeep. BEEEEEEEEP._

A small, pale hand reached out from under the floral pink duvet and slapped around the empty air between the bed and the nightstand. A bright pop of red zoomed out from under the blanket, tiredly blinking her big violet eyes while flying to hit the snooze button on the phone that the hand couldn't quite reach.

Yawning, the kwami took a second to rest next to the lamp on the table. The early summer sun illuminated the room through the blinds, its golden rays resting on the now still hand of the girl underneath the blanket.

A second turned into a minute, then five. Tikki, as sleepy as she was, knew that if she didn't do something soon, Marinette was going to be late. She willed herself to fly up, lightly grabbing her Miraculous wielder's hand and giving it a tiny shake.

"Mari, it's time to get up," she cooed in her singsong voice. "Marii, _Mariiiii."_

No response. Tikki tried shaking her hand harder.

"Wake uuuup." A little bit louder this time. She was returned with an incoherent grumbling noise, but no movement. Tikki sighed. The phone now read 8:30, meaning classes started in fifteen minutes.

Desperate times called for desperate measures.

"You have a text from Adriennn," she sung out.

Marinette sat up in a tumble, fighting against the blankets she had tangled into during the night. Her eyes were wide, frantic, and she grasped at the phone that Tikki held up just out of her reach.

"Whoops, nevermind, it was just spam. Sorry."

"You little-" Marinette started, finally getting the device back from her Kwami who was now sporting a mischievous grin. She didn't get to finish her thought as her mouth dropped, registering the time displayed on the lock screen.

 _Crap-crap-crap-crap-crap-crap-crap-crap,_ Mari mumbled under her breath as she rushed through her morning routine, all to the sound of Tikki's snorting. Getting ready in no time was one of her few talents, but still, Marinette couldn't help but feel pretty bad, considering that today was the last day of school.

* * *

Marinette had just managed to clamber into her seat before the opening bell rung, prompting a relieved sigh from both herself, her kwami, and Alya, who had just added another tick to the tally inside her noteback, "Times Marinette has Actually Shown Up On Time".

"Girl, I can't believe it." Alya whispered, voice low despite the fact that class hadn't officially started yet. "That makes one hundred."

A hundred out of a hundred-eighty. Not bad, considering how often Marinette oversleeps as a result of her night-time double duty.

She grinned back sheepishly, pulling her notebook and pencils out of her bag. "Couldn't exactly be late on the last day, could I?"

The classes were over before Marinette even realized they had started. While each and every teacher gave the same lecture about staying safe and summer readings (why even give out homework during a break?), Marinette stared dreamily at the head of her blonde, green-eyed, supermodel crush in front of her.

She could daydream for hours- no, days- about him, and what their wedding would be like, and the trip they would take to Tahiti for their twentieth anniversary, and-

"Earth to Marinette, hello!" Alya's voice snapped her back to reality. She was still staring at Adrien, but she realized with a start it was no longer his head she had been making that goofy smile at, but his face, his perfect, chiselled, kind-looking-

"Oh, oh yea," she sputtered, realizing everyone was waiting for her to make a response. "Uh, what were you saying again?"

"I said," Nino answered back, used to how out of it Marinette could be, "we were thinking of going camping Monday night, up near Rouen. You up for it?"

"We?" Marinette squeaked, growing redder every second she realized Adrien was looking _right at her._

"Yes, we, as in you, me, Nino," Alya took a second to clear her throat, "and Adrien."

Marinette could feel her tomato-coloured head nodding before she could even manage to have her mouth formulate the word "yes".

"Great!" Adrien's voice caused her to look at him with a start. "I'm really looking forward to it!" He grinned at her, and she grinned- well, she hoped she grinned- back. As Nino and Adrien shuffled out of the lecture seats, exiting the classroom with a small wave to the two girls, Marinette turned to Alya and shrieked.

"Oh my god is this really happening to me is this a dream pinch me Alya- oh my God how am I going to do this we're practically spending the night toge-" Marinette's voice turned from one of pure bliss to pure terror in a matter of seconds.

"Woah, there, slow down girl" Alya grabbed a hold of her flustered BFF's shoulders, chuckling lightly. "Yes, it's happening, and don't worry, you'll be fine! It's me you're spending the night with" she reassured her friend with a wink.

Marinette's smile came back, larger than ever. "Ahh, I can't wait!" she squealed, pulling her best friend into a tight hug, as Alya broke into her own smile. _It's going to be one hell of a night to get through_ , she thought, rubbing Marinette's back absentmindedly. _And, if we're lucky, you'll be together with Adrien by the end of it!_

On the desk, Alya's phone vibrated with a text from Nino.

 _Phase One successful!_

* * *

The weekend flew by, and at last, Monday was upon them. Alya was at Marinette's, the two working briskly to get their last minute packing done in the early hours of the morning.

"Phew," Alya sighed, catching the bottle of water Marinette tossed her with the hand not holding her plaid green backpack. "Thanks."

"No problem," Marinette replied, pulling her own bright pink backpack on her shoulders. "Nino and Adrien are bringing the tents, right?" she asked.

"Yup," Alya replied after taking a swig of water. "They got the tents, we got the grub," she grinned as she pulled the large grocery bag filled with marshmallows, graham crackers, and other assorted munchies that were necessary to have around a campfire off the countertop. "Ready to go?" she asked.

"Yup!" Marinette beamed, her smile full of excitement.

The group was to meet at Gare du Nord at 10, where they were going to be taking a train up to Rouen. After that, it was going to be a few hours of walking to the actual campsite, which was in the forest beside the village.

"You sure you know how to get to it?" Alya had asked Nino, more than once. "Absolutely! I've gone there with my uncle every summer for the last three years, and _besides-"_ he shook a wrinkled piece of paper in her face, "I've got a map!"

And it was at 1 pm when the four teens found themselves in the middle of Rouen, after a long and frankly awkward train ride in which Alya and Nino spent the hours chatting away about their favourite music groups and Marinette and Adrien played a long game of making eye contact, and then breaking away to stare in the other direction for five minutes.

Alya had cracked down on her after an hour, hushing "You've got to try talking to him at _some_ point."

And Marinette _had_ tried, willing up the courage to ask "what kind of music do you listen to, Adrien?"

"Oh, uh, whatever's on the radio, usually," he replied honestly- fencing, piano, and Chinese didn't leave him much time for listening to music other than when he was being driven around to the aforementioned activities.

Marinette was so happy he responded she didn't notice Alya glaring at him, nor Nino elbowing him in the ribs, nor the barely perceptible "Ow" under his breath as he rubbed the now sore spot on his abdomen.

The game continued.

When the train had finally stopped and the group made their way to the edge of the town, Alya pulled Nino aside, grateful for the distraction of the countless bakeries lining the streets that had caught the attention of Marinette's eyes and Adrien's stomach.

"This can't keep going" she complained, once the pair was out of earshot. "We've got to do something. Marinette… well she's Marinette. But Adrien ought to be able to keep a conversation going!"

"You overestimate him, ma chere amie," Nino replied. "He's as dense as a brick when it comes to romance."

Alya sighed in defeat, looking past Nino to see her two friends walk into yet another store. Adrien, being the gentleman he is, held the door open. Marinette, being a clumsy awkward teenage girl in the vicinity of her drop-dead-gorgeous crush, tripped on a dent in the cobblestones, hit her head on the open door and fell backward, landing on her tailbone with a _thud_.

You could see the redness of her face from a mile away.

"Is there any helping them?" The redhead asked rhetorically, shaking her head in embarrassment for her poor, poor friend as Adrien delicately helped her up to her feet.

"Ah, but there is," Nino reassured her, his voice taking on a devilish hint. "You know how the weather forecast said there would be rain tonight?"

"Yeah, and how I called you an idiot for still wanting to go camping?" Alya replied, eyebrows quirked.

He took off his backpack and zipped open the pocket to take something out. "Phase Two," he grinned slyly.

As Alya realized what he was doing, her eyes grew wide.

"Nino?" she purred, prompting him to look up. She pushed his back playfully. "You're a genius!"

* * *

Marinette and Adrien were still in the boulangerie. The embarrassment of the earlier incident wouldn't stop either of them from getting a load of the deliciously fresh-baked bread the town had to offer.

"Should we get a baguette and split it between the four of us?" Adrien asked, browsing the long golden loaves and taking in the whiff of homemade goods.

"Yeah, uh, that s-sounds good," Marinette answered. She took a seat at one of the high marbled tables and watched bashfully as Adrien went up to the lady at the counter and asked her for one of the loaves. He hesitated for a split second.

"Could I also get a croissant? Thanks"

When he returned to where Marinette was sitting, he carefully placed the baguette on the table and pulled the croissant into two pieces, handing one out to her.

"Sorry," he laughed lightly. "I get a craving for these sometimes."

"No, no, it's okay, th-thank you!" She stumbled back politely, taken aback by his thoughtfulness. "If you want, I-I could bring you some."

She swallowed, seeing him visibly brighten up. "I-I mean when we get back of course, and, uh, oh, only if you-you'd want them, that is."

"I'd love that," he said with a wide smile. "Thanks, Marinette."

As he said her name, she could have sworn her soul left her body and flew up to heaven. The two finished eating their croissants in silence, savouring the warm, buttery taste.

 _Is this what it would feel like_ , butterflies fluttered in Marinette's stomach, _to go out on a date with Adrien?_

Adrien was either completely unaware of Marinette's ever-reddening face, or he was completely nonchalant about it.

If Nino was there he would've guessed the former.

"Hey Marinette?" Adrien asked meekly. Her gaze, which had been cast longingly outside the window, turned to him with pointed attention.

"Mmhm?" she replied around her pastry.

"What time we were supposed to meet up with Alya and Nino again?"

"Oh, um," she answered, quickly swallowing. "Let me just, uh, find my phone and-"

Her eyes widened.

"Five minutes ago."

The pair rushed out of the bakery, racing toward the small garden where they had originally split up. Nino and Alya were lounged on the decorative boulders, talking away, having too forgotten the time. They seemed a bit surprised when their friends showed up out of breath and red in the face- though, knowing how well in shape both Marinette and Adrien were, Alya suspected it wasn't because they seem to have come flying over the town to get there.

"Here," Adrien panted, holding out the baguette to Nino. "You and Alya share, Marinette and I already ate."

"Sick," Nino replied, taking hold of the now-cooled bread and breaking it in half to give a piece to Alya. "Thanks bro."

The group picked up all of their bags and began to head out toward the forest to the west of the city. Alya munched away happily on her baguette, walking beside Marinette as they kept a few paces behind the boys. Nino already had his map out, and was telling stories of his childhood camping adventures to Adrien, coming dangerously close to hitting the poor blond in the face with his baguette as he re-enacted his first fishing experience.

"So did you and Adrien have fun on your little lunch date?" Alya whispered, causing Marinette to stop dead in her tracks and start violently blushing again.

"Ah, well, I- we, um," she was at a loss for words. "It wasn't, uh, he didn't-"

"I'm just kidding with you, girl," Alya laughed, taking Marinette by the arm and lurching her forward to keep up the guys. "Though honestly, what if he does ask you out on a date? What will you do?"

Marinette walked pensively. She could barely squeak around Adrien, much less hold an actual conversation around him.

Alya, on the other hand, had quickened her pace. "Ninoooo," she sung out, sliding in between him and Adrien and looping her arm around his that was holding the map. "I wanna talk to you for a second."

She turned to Adrien. "In private, preferably." She stuck out her tongue, prompting Adrien to sigh. He turned around, and, seeing that Marinette was lagging behind, jogged up to her.

"You're going to have to pick up the pace, I wouldn't want to lose you!" He joked cheerfully, taking her hand and pulling her forward.

Marinette was being pulled around a lot today.

But she hadn't realized it was Adrien firmly grasping her hand until she looked up from her feet and saw his grinning face.

Meanwhile, Alya took Nino's map and turned it upside down in his hands.

"Phase one and a half," she said simply.

They shared a smile, and the group kept walking.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

Hello! I hope you enjoy this happy-go-lucky Adrienette fic :D

Feedback is always encouraged ^^


	2. Phase Two: Lost Teens and Stuck Cats

**Chapter Two**

* * *

Adrien still hadn't let go of Marinette's hand.

They had been walking for quite some time now, and although, based on how loud Nino and Alya were talking, their "private conversation" was over, he made no move to go rejoin his best friend.

Beside him, the black-haired girl seemed to be slowly warming up to his presence, actually looking up (at him?) rather than just at her feet. Her shyness couldn't help but make him smile, and he felt glad she hadn't yet tried to pull her hand away from him.

Marinette, on the other hand, was doing her best not to explode from excitement.

 _It's him, it's actually him_ , she kept having to look up to make sure Adrien was the person walking next to her. _It's him and he's holding my hand, oh my god, OH MY GOD!_

She didn't try talking to him, keeping her mouth closed to stop herself from screaming her thoughts out loud.

Nino and Alya looked back every once in a while to check for progress. They were at first amazed by the fact that the lovebirds-to-be were actually holding hands, but the novelty wore off when, after half an hour, they _hadn't said a SINGLE word to each other_.

"Do you think Marinette's okay?" Nino asked in a hushed tone, concerned now that it was getting late.

"Only one way to find out," Alya sighed, pulling out her phone.

"Wait." She stopped moving, thumbing through her phone. "I don't have signal." She looked up at Nino, exasperated.

Adrien and Marinette had stopped behind them and were now paying attention. Nino immediately jumped on the chance, and motioned to Alya. She took the cue.

"Nino, we've been walking a really long time. Are we almost there yet?" She asked, her voice full of concern.

He made a point of holding the map in front of Marinette and Adrien. "We're should be right around here," he said confidently, pointing his finger at a random spot on the paper.

Marinette scrunched her eyes. "Nino," she began, her voice wavering. "Aren't you, uh, holding that upside-down?"

With that, Alya immediately grabbed the map out of Nino's hand, turning it upside-down so that the North symbol pointed up. "Nino, you idiot!"

Adrien pouted. "Does that mean we've been walking the wrong way this whole time?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess so," Nino replied, his hand rubbing the back of his neck, eyes downcast.

"But, uh, you at least know where we are, right, Nino?" Marinette inquired hopefully.

"Well… no, not really."

Nino was met with three groans. "Sorry, guys," he chuckled sheepishly.

"We can just use a GPS though, right?" He turned to Alya, who was already furiously tapping on her phone.

"Uh, no, because we have no signal," she replied, twirling her phone in front of his nose. "Unless _you_ feel like climbing a tree?"

"Let me see the map," Adrien requested. He studied the aged paper carefully. Marinette, whose hand was still in his, joined him.

He suddenly pulled his hand from hers, grinning sheepishly and handing the map back to Nino. "I, uh, gotta go to the bathroom."

"Me too," Marinette piped in, clutching her hand.

The two immediately split off into different directions, while Alya and Nino took a seat on a fallen log.

"Don't get lost, you two!" Nino called out.

"Don't worry, I'm not like someone I know." Adrien's voice responded.

Alya chuckled. She leaned in toward Nino, relishing in the break after a long time walking.

"How far are we, actually?" She questioned, stretching her legs out in front of her.

"Eh, 'bout ten minutes?" Nino replied, doing likewise with his arms. He then took the opportunity to put them around her, enclosing her in a warm hug.

"They'll figure it out, you know" Alya grinned, snuggling up against him.

"Nah," Nino grinned back. "We'll just walk around in circles forever. Then maybe they'll finally talk to each other!"

* * *

"Tikki!" Marinette hushed, willing her kwami, who was sleeping in the inner pocket of her jean jacket, to wake up.

She felt a squirm, then her red bug dozily flew out, rubbing her bluebell eyes.

"Are we almost there yet?" She asked with a yawn. "You've been walking a loooong time"

"We kinda got lost" Marinette admitted with a sigh. Tikki blinked back in concern.

"How far away are you? She questioned, glancing up at the sky. The sun was already halfway down, meaning there were only a couple hours left before sunset. Threatening clouds were beginning to pile up from the east.

Marinette hoped it wouldn't rain.

"Who knows?" Marinette said despondently. "I want to transform and figure out where we are."

"Sounds good to me," Tikki giggled.

She transformed with a quick call of "transformez-moi!", and soon enough was scaling up the nearest tree, praying that none of her friends looked up. Marinette prided herself on being able to come up with on-the-spot explanations, but there was no way she'd be able to explain what Paris' most beloved superhero was doing climbing trees in a random forest two hours from the city.

The same fear was passing through Adrien's head as he clawed his way up the tree in his trademark leather costume. Plagg had been hesitant to transform him, having been told he would get a break from Chat Noir's constant shenanigans.

Adrien had packed extra cheese just in case.

He was quick to get to the top, and spent a moment sitting in the branches just breathing in the clear air. The view was in complete contrast to his usual ones in Paris- there was green everywhere he looked, save for the grey-blue streams that winded their way around the forest like alleyways through apartments. The sun was gliding down toward the horizon slowly, its job done for the day as Adrien could feel just the tiniest hint of a chill in the breeze that ruffled his honey-coloured hair.

 _I ought to go camping more often,_ he thought to himself. _I bet Ladybug would enjoy this view_.

Ladybug was not enjoying the view. In fact, Ladybug could barely get herself up to the top of the tree, her yo-yo useless in the heavy branches and her clumsiness working against her. By the time she made it to the top, huffing and puffing, her only concern was to figure out where they were. She scanned the landscape, hoping to match what her eyes saw to the map she remembered in her head.

Adrien had just realized that if he didn't get back soon, Alya, Nino, and Marinette would come looking for him. He twisted his neck around rapidly, trying to figure out where they were when he noticed a clearing not too far away from where his tree was.

 _That must be it!_ He thought excitedly, and hurriedly dropped himself to the lower branches only to come face to face with a bird's nest.

"Ah- ah- ah- ah- CHOO!"

The sudden loud noise startled Marinette, and before she could even think about where or what it came from she found herself flailing among the branches. She desperately threw out her yoyo, hoping it would entangle itself in the tree and keep her from falling any further.

Adrien jerked his head in the direction of the crashing sounds, and for a moment he thought he could discern a familiar shade of red, but not before it was lost in the leaves. He sniffled and rubbed his nose, making a point to himself to avoid nests on the way down.

Marinette's legs were splayed awkwardly among the branches, chest heaving and clutching desperately onto the string that kept her from taking a twenty-foot drop. She carefully pulled herself up, regaining her balance before allowing herself to relax. Recovering her yoyo, she maneuvered herself down the tree, carefully sliding from branch to branch before landing on the ground with a thud and a sigh of relief.

Adrien was stuck. Getting up a tree, he realized, was a _lot_ easier than getting down a tree. He wasn't even sure _why_ he was stuck. It wasn't like Adrien had climbed a hundred trees before and was a pro at it (in fact, he'd never actually climbed a tree before), but it shouldn't have been _that_ difficult.

He groaned internally. _Leave it to Chat Noir to get stuck in a tree and confirm all the cat stereotypes_. He flashed back to that time Ladybug had saved a civilian's cat who had shared his fate.

 _She'd laugh her head off if she saw me right now_.

"Adrien! Marinette! Where are you!" Alya's voice rung out, followed by a second, deeper voice calling the same names.

"I'm right here!" a breathless voice joined the first two, and Adrien could just imagine a red-faced Marinette rushing out to meet Alya and Nino.

He then heard a _thud noise,_ a loud "Ow!" and a chorus of concerned "Are you okay?"'s, and he chuckled a bit to himself at the thought of the scene before realizing he didn't have to imagine it, because all three of them _were right underneath him._

 _Shit_.

He did the only thing he could think of, as embarrassing as it would be.

He released his transformation, took a deep breath, and screamed "HELP!"

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

A cat with feather allergies, can you imagine?

Thank you for all of the feedback, and _wow_ so many favourites and follows just with the first chapter, what a pleasant surprise! I hope you all enjoy this one just as much c:


	3. Phase Three: Wedding Gowns and Injuries

**Chapter Three**

* * *

Nino would never let him live it down. It took an eternity, trying to coax the terrified blonde boy down the tree. Adrien was sure his face was redder by the time he got down than Marinette's had ever been.

"Dude. Why. Just why." Nino grabbed him by the shoulders, head shaking in mock disappointment. "I know you've never been out in nature before, but if you wanted to climb a tree you shoulda told us."

"I thought I could figure out where we were," Adrien half-assed his explanation. It was _true_ , yes, but he didn't include the part that he had super powers and super strength and theoretically should have had no problem climbing up and down a tree.

He noticed Marinette had turned her face away from his, cheeks furiously blushing. He blinked.

"No wonder your father doesn't like letting you out of his sight!" Alya joked, slapping him on the back. "Come on, it's okay."

The cheery redhead's voice made him turn away from Marinette. "Oh, but, uh, I did see where we were!" he exclaimed happily.

Nino and Alya looked at each other and gulped.

"You did?" Nino asked meekly.

"Yeah, I think you were following the map wrong even though it was upside-down" Adrien laughed, not noticing the expressive conversation Nino and Alya were having.

He pointed in the direction of the clearing he had seen. "It should be just over there."

Marinette clapped her hands together excitedly, spinning back around to face him. "Adrien, you're the best!"

His bashful gaze fell on her, and her face suddenly froze. "Not like, I-think-you're-the-best-person-ever-and-I-really-really-like-you-the-best-but-oh-I-do-like-you-but-uh-"

She stopped herself by throwing her hands over her mouth, and Adrien laughed at the sullen expression on her scarlet face, joined shortly after by Nino and Alya.

"Come on you two idiots" Alya grinned, putting both hands around Adrien and Marinette's shoulders and pulling them together. "We have a camp to go set up!"

The boys set out to gather the bags and tents, most of which had been left behind near the log Alya and Nino had been resting on.

Marinette moved to help, but was stopped by a sharp pain in her foot. She glanced down desperately and tentatively put weight on it again, gauging the pain.

She yelped and bit her tongue in the process to stop the sound. _It must have been just now, when I tripped_ , she thought, turning pale. In front of her the boys were already starting to get a move on and Alya was just grabbing the rest of the grocery bags.

"Mari, you okay? I don't have the arms to carry all these!" Alya called out to her.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine!" Marinette responded with a falsely light tone. She clenched her teeth and tried to take a step toward her friend.

The yelp was much louder this time.

"Girl, you don't sound like you're fine!" Alya retorted, dropping her bags and jogging over to where Marinette stood. "What happened?"

"It's my foot," Marinette mumbled bitterly, internally kicking herself. "It's not too far, I think I can make it- ouch!" She squeaked out when trying to take another step to prove her point.

"As if," Alya bit back, squatting down to look closer at the injured foot. "This is swollen like crazy, I'll have to ask the guys if they've brought ice with them."

She looked at her downcast friend. "It's fine Mari, just don't move. I'll go let the guys know."

Alya left Mari sighing in annoyance, running to get the guys' attention with a mischievous grin on her face.

"Nino, Adrien, hey!" she called out. The guys turned around, surprised at the brunette's concerned tone.

"What's wrong?" Nino asked.

Adrien looked past her, noticing a distinctive lack of pigtails. "Where's Marinette?"

"She-she hurt her foot" Alya puffed, catching her breath after the short sprint. "Adrien, I'll take your stuff- you go help her."

There was no hesitation as Adrien dropped all his bags and ran to where Alya came from. The redead stood still for a moment before carefully loading up the bags, appreciating how strong Adrien was to carry all of it.

"Alya-" Nino said with a warning tone, noticing how small his friend looked under all the tent supplies. "Leave some of it, Adrien and I will have to go back to pick up the food anyway"

"I'm—good" Alya retorted between steps. A hand suddenly lifted the biggest package from her, and she squeaked in surprise of unexpected lightness.

"We wouldn't want you getting hurt, too" Nino smiled cheekily as he put the stolen goods on the ground. "Unless, that is- you want me to carry you, too?"

Alya was not normally a blusher, but with her now-free hand she replied with a playful punch to his shoulder. "In your dreams, Nino."

* * *

Marinette stood warily, all of her weight balanced on her uninjured foot. She was mostly upset at herself for her clumsiness, but she was also nervous because if Alya went to _get help_ , then that meant she was going to get carried on someone's back.

She hoped Alya felt bad enough for the girl to send Nino.

Upon seeing the sun-blonde hair she took a deep breath. _No such luck_.

"Hey, Marinette" Adrien greeted her as he ducked under some of the lower branches. "Alya said you hurt your foot?"

"It's nothing bad, really!" Marinette stammered awkwardly, hands waving in front of her.

"Can you walk?" Adrien asked, arm extended in case she needed it.

"Um, well, you see," Marinette answered, hand now rubbing the back of her head as she pointedly avoided eye contact. "No."

"Gotcha" Adrien smiled back. He oriented himself in front of her, then crouched down. "Get on."

The pigtailed-girl's face exploded in shades of red. "Um, no, really, it's okay Adrien, I'll be able to walk in a bit you don't have to wor- what are you doing!?"

Adrien, realizing Marinette would never climb onto him of her own accord, instead leapt up and in one graceful motion picked her up wedding-day style.

 _Alya's so lucky I literally can't move right now_ , she thought, fuming. Her friend was going to get some violent words thrown at her later on for making her go through this torment.

Not that it was any sort of torment, really, Marinette thought as she looked into Adrien's slightly rosy and flustered face.

"We need to get you to camp, whether you like it or not," he said simply, adjusting his hold on her. He was very, _very_ aware of how red his friend's face was, and how she seemed to be at a complete loss for words. "Sorry 'bout that."

"Oh, um..." she stammered back. "It's okay," she mumbled into his shoulder. Marinette closed her eyes and tried to slow her shallowed breathing in an attempt to relax. It wasn't like she'd ever _dreamt_ of this moment where Adrien carried her like a princess (although, usually, she was in a beautiful white dress and not a denim jacket and bright pink polka-dotted shorts).

The walk to the camp was really quite a short one, thankfully. Alya and Nino had already begun setting up one of the tents.

"Hey, there are our two lovebirds!" Nino cooed as the two approached the campsite. "Have a fun stroll?"

"Shut up, Nino!" Alya elbowed him jokingly. Her best friend looked like she was torn between being on the verge of eternal bliss and absolute terror.

She really hoped that it was the former.

Adrien deposited the still nerve-wracked girl onto one of the foldable chairs, making a mental note to apologize properly to her later. She hadn't said anything the entire walk back, but at the same time he was glad she didn't seem _too_ annoyed by being carried back by him.

Marinette didn't trust herself to say anything coherent, because once the reality of what was happening set in, it took everything- _everything_ \- in her to keep from screaming loud enough to scare every animal in the forest.

"Nino, I'm gonna go back and grab the food and stuff," Adrien called out to his friend.

"Hold on, dude, I'm coming with," Nino responded hastily, pushing the last tent pole into the ground.

Alya moved toward Marinette, taking a seat in the adjacent chair. "Marinette?" She asked carefully. "You alive, girl?"

There was the scream.

"You guys okay?!" The boys burst back into the clearing, a flash of alarm on their faces.

"Oh, yeah," Alya retorted, sternly looking over at the ghost-faced Marinette.

"I-uh-" she began, faltering. "A butterfly flew into my face?"

Adrien nodded in total understanding, but Nino stood dumbstruck. "Mari, you're afraid of bugs?"

"Yes!" Alya shouted, launching herself out of her chair to push the boys back out of the clearing. "Now go get the food before it's _all_ covered in bugs!"

Shaking their heads, the guys headed out again, and Alya resumed in her spot next to Marinette. "Again, are. You. Alive?"

She nodded furiously. "He- he actually carried me!" Innocent blue eyes tore into Alya. "Oh, he's so kind, and perfect, it was like a dream come true!"

Alya could only sigh and smile, glad impromptu phase one and three quarters turned out well.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

I'm going to be super busy with exams soon but I will try to update as soon as I can.

Thank you again for your feedback, favourites, and follows, they make me so, SO happy and I'm glad you all are enjoying this itty bitty story c:


	4. Phase Four: Scary Stories

**Chapter Four**

* * *

Dark green silhouettes shook as a strong breeze pathed its way through the leafy trees. The rustling noises harmonized with the chirping crickets, the music interrupted only by the nearby crackling of the fire as Nino added more dry sticks to the pile.

Marinette laid back in her flimsy foldable chair, a fuzzy blanket wrapped around her like a cocoon in an attempt to prevent the shivers that tended to result from a chilly summer evening. Or at least that was what Alya said when she covered her stubborn friend with the fluffy pink blanket. In reality it was to keep Marinette's butt- which was by now completely numb- in that chair while her injured foot lay elevated and wrapped in ice.

Not that she would have been able to move much anyway, but Alya knew Marinette, and precautions had to be taken.

"I think that's enough firewood," Adrien said as he entered the clearing with a load of branches in his arms.

"Same," Nino replied, wiping his brow off. He crouched by the fire as Adrien added the last of the sticks to it.

"Food's ready to go." Alya motioned to the assortment of snacks laid out around the fire.

"Is Marinette awake?" Adrien asked, looking over to where the pigtailed girl lay, eyes closed. She shifted in her seat, mumbling an "mmhm", but not making any actual movements.

"Adrien," Alya turned to him slyly. "Go wake her up, please."

Confused, the blond stepped over to her, pausing before lightly tapping her shoulder.

"One sec," she breathed out, lazily opening her eyes.

"Marinette?" He squatted down to face her at eye-level.

"Adrien!?" Her expression widened in shock before she instinctively tried to shift away from him. The movement imbalanced her, and within a moment the chair fell over on its side, nervous girl along with it.

"Oh my god, Marinette!" He immediately reached over to pull her back up. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, uh, y-yeah," she brushed him off, trying to unravel herself from the blanket.

"I'm really sorry," he said sheepishly. "I feel like I've been causing you a lot of trouble today."

"No, it's fine," she tried to grin, waving her hands. "I, uh, I fall a lot on my own anyway, so, uh-" She blinked, taking in his concerned expression. "R-really, don't worry about it!"

"Alright," Adrien replied, patting her gently on the shoulder. "As long as you're okay."

Nino and Alya watched as Adrien helped the forever-blushing girl to her feet, sighing in unison as she gingerly took a step while holding on to him as support.

"This is good, right?" Nino asked in a hushed tone.

"Better than nothing, I guess," Alya responded, trying to downplay the cringe she just felt. "It's just so… awkward, still. Nothing's actually changed."

"Well, I mean, it's only been one day, right?"

"You'd be surprised at how much a relationship can change in one day, Nino."

He thought for a second, a memory jogged in his mind at the sound of her words. "I guess you're right."

"Of course I am. Now shush."

Marinette balanced precariously between her two feet, hand cradling Adrien's forearm as he led her to where Alya and Nino were sitting in front of the fire.

"Do you still want the blanket?" He asked, bending down to let her settle on the ground.

"Oh, y-yeah," She looked up at him, red scattering her cheeks. "I get cold easily."

"Okay," he said, frowning at the still-swollen ankle. "Hold on, I'll go get you your ice."

Nino and Alya giggled as Adrien stood up to get the ice pack that had been tossed into the grass from the earlier tumble. As he returned, Marinette let her gaze drift toward the side, avoiding eye contact as he gently laid the ice atop her ankle before settling himself down beside her.

"Alright," Alya clapped her hands together, turning to face Nino. "What should we do?"

"How about," he in turn faced the awkward pair, "truth or dare?"

"What a _great_ idea, Nino!" Alya set her gaze on Marinette, who was already shaking her head and mouthing the word 'NO'.

"I don't like that idea very much," Adrien intercepted her, chuckling. "There are some things I'd really rather not admit, plus," he turned to Marinette, "can't exactly dare Miss-I'm-clumsy-but-somehow-super-athletic-at-the-same-time here to do anything, so maybe another time."

Nino never even knew it was possible to physically see someone's face turn that _red_ in so few seconds.

"Figured that wouldn't work," Alya muttered underneath her breath.

"What?"

"Nothing!" She smiled cheerfully once more. "Any ideas, then?"

"How about ghost stories?" Adrien suggested.

"Oh-oh-oh I know a GREAT one!" Nino perked up. "Can I go first?"

"Yeah, sure," Adrien said, leaning forward to rest his face in his hands. Marinette said nothing.

"Okay, so this happened to the daughter of one of my mom's friends. True story."

"You can't _seriously_ believe in ghosts, Nino," Alya interrupted, rolling her eyes.

"Uh, duh I can," he said as though it were obvious. "Superheroes and magic exist, so why not ghosts?"

"Point taken."

"Anyway," he continued, looking back to Adrien, who looked totally ready for a ghost story, and Marinette, who totally _did not_.

"It was a pretty long time ago, back before like, cell phones were a thing. So this girl and her three friends decided to go camping one day, somewhere right near here, if I remember right-"

"That's awfully convenient," Alya interrupted again. "Are you sure it's rea-"

"Yes, I'm _sure_ ," Nino groaned. "Now shut up."

"It's just that, as a journalist I don't like pretending stories are true when they're not."

"It's fine," Adrien waved his hand. "Just let him finish."

"Yeah," Nino turned to her, smirking. "Let me finish."

"Mmhm," Marinette piped up quietly. "Faster he talks the faster I don't have to hear it anymore."

No one heard her.

"Kay, fine," Alya raised her hands up in defeat. "Tell your totally-one-hundred-per-cent-true-ghost-story."

" _Thank_ you," Nino cleared his throat. "As I was saying, they decided to go camping somewhere around here. So, you know, everything's always fine and dandy at first. They got to the campsite no problem, set up their tent no problem, told a few scary stories 'round the campfire and laughed them off, you know."

He paused for dramatic effect.

"It was getting pretty late, so they decided it was time for bed. That's-" another pause and an exasperated sigh from Alya- "when things started getting _weird._ "

"Weird how?" Marinette whispered, voice trembling.

"Weird, as in they heard weird noises scraping the sides of their tent. Weird, as in they saw weird shadows, _big_ shadows in the fabric. Bushes, they thought, and moving trees. They put it down to wind. But then, after a while, they heard a _moan_. It wasn't an animal moan, but it wasn't exactly human, either."

Adrien could feel Marinette shaking beside him; before he knew it he put his arm around her, pulling her in. Nino's grave demeanour broke for a moment with a grin before his expression turned serious once more.

"They decided, two of them had to go outside and see what it was. Prove it wasn't anything more than the wind and the bushes. They even played rock paper scissors for it. The two girls who lost, they went outside, but they didn't find _anything_. So they came back, laughed it off, and everyone went to sleep. But then-" his voice went almost silent- "one of the girls woke up, and she realized that the two girls who went out before were _missing._ "

Marinette took a sharp breath, not even aware of the heavy weight on her shoulders trying to reassure her.

"She wondered if maybe they'd gone to the bathroom, but after ten minutes, they were still nowhere to be seen. So-" he paused, again- "she decided to wake up the last girl. She crawled up to the form underneath the blankets and started to shake it, calling out that she needed to wake up, their friends were missing. But when the form turned over, she realized that it wasn't her friend. Or, well, it wasn't her friend _alive_."

Even Adrien gulped then.

"And that's when she saw it."

"Saw what?" Even Alya was totally engrossed in the story by now.

Nino looked over all three of them, slowly, seriously, before he said it.

"The shadow."

A crack of thunder boomed at just that moment, and Marinette screamed, jolting herself back against Adrien's arm.

"Goodness, Marinette," Alya chuckled lightheartedly. "You sound like you just saw an akuma!"

"Akumas are much less scary," she retorted, trying to catch her breath. "Sorry, I'm not too good with ghost stories."

"Ghosts are scarier than akumas?" Alya asked incredulously. "In what world?"

"Says the one who chases them every chance she gets." Adrien pointed out.

"Yeah, but like, they're _real_ " Alya said.

"Hey!" Nino said, offended.

"I mean, it was a good story, don't get me wrong, but it can't compare to akumas."

"I guess," Nino replied. "Hey, speaking of which," he turned to Marinette and Adrien. "How come you two have never been akumatized? Practically our whole class has been by now."

"Uhhh," Marinette fumbled, looking for an answer. "I'm… super positive?"

"Yeah," Alya immediately jumped in to her defense. "Marinette is too pure, too sweet for this world. You can't turn a cinnamon roll into an akuma. Adrien, on the other hand-"

"I inherited my father's complete and utter lack of emotions," he said matter-of-factly.

Everyone, even Marinette, snorted.

"We should take bets on how Adrien would get akumatized!" Alya proposed.

"My money's on when he tells Ladybug he _looooooves_ her and she rejects him," Nino said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Furiously blushing, Adrien didn't say a word. But Marinette did:

"Why would Ladybug reject Adrien of all people?"

"Duh," Nino and Alya looked at each other. "She's got Chat Noir."

Marinette groaned, rolling her eyes in indignation.

"It's okay," she turned to the blushing blond. "No one would ever reject you."

 _Wait. What did I just say?_

"I-I-I-I _mean_ ," she fumbled, trying to fix her words despite the stutter that was completely annihilating her attempts. "You're popular with the ladies?"

 _WAIT NO THAT'S NOT ANY BETTER_

"Yeah," Nino broke the sudden awkwardness between the blonde and the literal red head. "I'd have thought you'd be dying to get akumatized, just so Ladybug would come and save you.

"Marinette," Adrien spoke suddenly, his eyes searching her rosy-splotched face. "Why are _you_ blushing?"

You could literally hear crickets.

Nino's jaw fell to the ground. Alya held her head in her hands, muttering to herself "out of _all_ people, you just _had_ to fall for the densest possible human being _alive_ ".

Marinette was completely and utterly speechless, her face contorted in a confusion that perfectly matched the incomprehension on Adrien's

"It's probably because," Nino made a half-hearted attempt to salvage the situation before it went completely downhill. "She wants Chat Noir to come save her!"

"Yeah!" Alya joined in on the bandwagon. "Blond hair, green eyes, _sounds like her type_."

Adrien pumped his fist into his palm, completely ignoring the mortified face of the girl sitting just to his right. "That makes so much sense!"

He turned to face her, an expression of absolute understanding painting his features. "Why didn't you tell me you had a crush on Chat Noir?"

 _Because,_ she willed herself to say, _I didn't even know I did_ until NOW.

Nino gulped. If looks could kill, boy, he'd be dead faster than Ladybug could say 'Miraculous Ladybug!'

Satisfied with the glare of death that Nino received, Marinette smiled perfectly cheerfully up at Adrien, slapping him on the arm with a little more force than was probably necessary. "How about we get back to the scary stories?"

"Sounds good to me," Nino replied hastily.

"Me, too," Alya nodded in agreement. "In fact, I've got a great one!"

 _Not as great, though, as the horror story that just unfolded._

She was beginning to wonder if some missions were just plain out impossible.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

Hi I hate writing exams

I know it's been a while but luckily I just finished up my exams which means I can finally get back into writing! I'm a little out of touch with the story and the writing style so I apologize if it seems different (or not as good as it was before whoop) but I still hope you enjoyed it! I don't know how to write ghost stories let alone how to write a character telling one, so I hope it came across alright? idk lol

Reviews = life, I appreciate every single one!

This story is over with one more chapter but I have plans for more fics (longer fics?) because I really want to improve my writing and obviously fluffy miraculous ladybug fics are the _best_ way to do that, so I guess that's good news for all of you that like my fics (I still can't get over that people like my writing wow)


	5. Phase Five: Stormy Nights and Warm Tents

**Chapter Five**

* * *

Much to everyone's surprise, Alya was actually quite good at telling ghost stories, her innate journalistic tendencies showing through as she recounted the various unexplained stories that she had discovered late one sleepless night. They were strange more so than scary, which was lucky for Marinette because she was completely done after Nino's.

"-and they never saw that girl ever again," Alya whispered, bringing her current story to a close. "Today, they say they can still hear her voice on stormy nights, calling for help, but whether it's really her or the wind no one knows for sure."

A pillow of uncomfortable silence cushioned the group sitting around the campfire before it was brutally interrupted by the sound of thunder from a fair distance away.

"Speaking of stormy nights," Nino said, casting a worried glance at the cloudy sky above. "The tents are waterproof, right?"

"Yep," Adrien nodded. "Super-durable, extremely spacious, able to withstand temperatures down to negative forty, you could probably use them during the zombie apocalypse."

"And insulated," Alya recalled, shivering. "Which is great, because I'm _freezing_."

"Me too," Marinette said, wrapping her blanket tighter around herself.

"Guess it's time to head to bed, then," Adrien stood up, stretching his arms wide as he yawned deeply. Marinette couldn't help but cast a glance as his shirt skimmed upwards, revealing just a bare trace of his toned stomach. She immediately turned her head away, a faint blush erupting on her cheeks.

"Mari?" He contentedly extended his hand toward her, tilting his head as he was met with a blank stare. As she looked from his outstretched palm to his questioning face, her mind connected the dots and she hastily tried to untangle herself from the fuzzy blanket.

In the process, she somehow managed to wrap herself up in it even more, and as a result tumbled over on her side as her three friends burst into a fit of giggles.

"It's like you're stuck in a cocoon, Mari," Alya chuckled, watching Adrien hesitate before her.

"It's not funny," Marinette moaned back, trying to squiggle out of her trap futilely. "I'm stuck."

"I got you," Adrien said. He grabbed hold of one corner of the blanket, pressing it firmly on the ground.

"Roll away from me," he directed. Marinette did as a he said, unrolling herself like she was a brand new carpet. Once she was finally freed, she lay sprawled out on her stomach, unwilling to move in embarrassment.

"I don't want to get up anymore," she mumbled into the carpet.

Adrien crouched down by her head, giving it a light tap with his fingers. "You can't sleep out here."

She lifted her face from the pink fuzz, eying the hand warily before looking up into his kind green eyes. With a sigh, she brought herself onto her hands and knees before accepting the offered help.

"Thanks," she said, dusting stray pine needles off her legs.

"Don't mention it," he grinned back sheepishly, scratching the back off his neck with one hand. "I would have just carried you to bed, but I don't think you'd appreciate that too much, considering earlier..."

"Oh, n-no, I didn't mind," Marinette reassured him. "It was just a surprise before, that's all!"

"Oh, okay," he said. "That's good."

They shared a quick smile before she turned over to gather the unrolled blanket, the pose unintentionally giving Adrien a front seat view of her exquisite _derriere_.

"Oh, um, Mari," he motioned to her shorts. "You have some, er, stuff stuck on your shorts."

"Oh!" She twisted herself around, trying to brush off the stray twigs with her hands. "Is it gone?"

"Almost," he tried not to choke. "Just, like- yeah there that's all of it."

"Thanks," she said.

"D-don't mention it," he stuttered nervously. _Seriously, don't mention it._

Across from the almost-put out fire, Alya and Nino watched them in a state of disbelief.

"I don't know whether that was cute or infuriating," Nino confessed in a whisper.

"Both," Alya shook her head. "Definitely both."

* * *

A chorus of "good night"'s were exchanged as the two parties retired to their respective tents for the night. As Alya and Marinette settled into their sleeping bags, they found that neither of them could fall asleep right away.

Marinette stayed awake for some time, first to feed Tikki and ensure the kwami was safe and warm in her backpack, and second to reflect (and panic) about the events that had occurred earlier that day.

Alya, on the other hand, was chanting a tune in her head:

 _Rain, rain, come to us!_

 _Adrien's oblivious!_

 _I don't want to raise a fuss!_

 _Please, rain, come to us!_

As though on cue, a clap of thunder shook the tent and the rain began to pour. It was slow at first, but it steadily increased in speed before hitting the fabric of the tent rather forcefully.

More noticeably, it was beginning to pour _into_ the tent, and _onto_ the two girls. Within a few seconds both of them were completely awake and completely soaked, hoisting their sleeping bags above their heads.

"What happened?" Marinette called, her voice muffled by the heavy padding of the bag.

"Looks like there was a hole in the fabric!" Alya called back.

"Could survive a zombie apocalypse my butt," Marinette snorted in response. "What do we do?"

"We have no other choice but to sleep with the guys."

The two girls dashed out and clambered into the guys' tent, dripping wet, only to be met with screams and a sudden onslaught of pillows.

"GUYS!" Alya shrieked, expertly dodging the attacks. "It's us!"

"Oh thank God!" Nino let out a sigh of relief as Alya lit up the tent with her phone. "Whoops."

"Whoops?" Alya asked, pricking with irritation. "You little-"

"Calm down!" Marinette held her friend back. "You'll get the whole tent wet!"

Bristling indignantly, Alya kept her ground. "In any case," she said, "as you can probably tell, we don't have a choice but to sleep with you guys tonight."

"That's fine," Adrien sat up to face them. "These tents are huge, after all."

"Thanks," Alya brightened up. "First things first, though, do you have some spare clothes? Because ours got kinda wet."

"Wait, what?" Marinette piped up. "Alya, are you sure we can just-"

"Assuming these boys can be _trusted_ ," she poked Nino in the ribs, to which he groaned and turned over, "we'll be fine. Besides," she shut off her cellphone, "it's practically pitch black in here."

"I won't look," Adrien promised, handing Marinette what felt like a plain cotton tee shirt. "That's all I have though."

"That's fine," Marinette replied. "Thank you, Adrien."

Nino lent Alya his sweater, and the two girls rapidly undressed, leaving their wet clothes in a messy pile in the corner of the tent. Marinette was left shivering, dressed in only a thin shirt and her slightly damp underwear. Alya turned her phone back on, shining it into the boys who groaned in response to the brightness.

"Alright," Marinette said, suddenly feeling very exposed. "How are we doing this? Alya and me-"

"In the middle," Alya cut her off. "We're cold and wet, we get to stay in the center and leech off their body heat."

"Wait," Marinette hastily turned to Alya. "Doesn't that mean we have to share sleeping bags with-"

"Yes, yes it does," her friend confirmed her suspicions, dropping her voice down to a whisper. "Lucky you, you get Adrien!"

"Wait," Marinette said again, an edge of desperation creeping into her voice as she casted a side glance at the tired looking blond.

"No waits," Alya grabbed her shoulders. "You're freezing. We can't have you catching a cold."

"It's fine, Marinette," Adrien zipped open his sleeping bag. "I-uh, don't really mind, so."

Turning heads between her traitorous best friend and the only well-intentioned crush, Marinette could do nothing but succumb to their demands.

She blamed it on her absolute exhaustion.

Alya wasted no time climbing into Nino's sleeping bag, pressing her back against him as she finally settled into sleep. Marinette carefully followed suit, the heightened awareness that her _bare legs_ were inches away from Adrien's causing her to stiffen from head to toe.

He noticed immediately, and turned over onto his back, bumping his foot into hers in the process.

"Holy" he whispered

"What?"

"Alya wasn't kidding, you're practically an icicle."

She didn't say anything in return, only curling into herself some more. She deliberately left space between her body and Adrien's, the heat that was emanating off him almost suffocating her. She willed herself to fall asleep, thankful for her fatigue. Any other day and she was sure it would've been impossible.

As she dozed off, Marinette could hear the up's and down's of Adrien's breath mixing with the pitter-patter of the raindrops of the tent.

* * *

 _BOOM!_

The loud clap of thunder jerked Marinette awake, leaving her disoriented and gasping for breath. The form beside her was unfamiliar, and she let out a squeak before realizing it was only Adrien.

 _Only Adrien…_

ADRIEN!

She practically jumped, her sudden movements causing him to shift in his sleep, and she pressed herself away from him, desperate to put some distance between them. The pull on the sleeping bag was slightly more than she expected, and she realized that she had woken him up, green eyes sleepily blinking open.

"Marinette?" He whispered, looking straight at her. "You okay?"

"Y-yeah," she whispered back. "J-just the thunder, it, uh, woke me up."

"Hmmm," he turned onto his side to face her entirely. "Are you afraid?"

"N-no-" she began to reassure him before she felt a jostle in her back from Alya's side, which just so happened to coincide with another roar of thunder.

"It's okay if you're scared," Adrien murmured. His hand found hers under the cover and gave it a soft, comforting squeeze.

Marinette forgot how to breathe.

"I-I'm really not scared," she choked out. _None of this is helping my case!_

Adrien had already closed his eyes, hand still firmly grasping hers. Unable to shake it loose (or rather, unwilling to really _try_ ), Marinette fell flat on her back and tried to relax.

* * *

"You know, phase two actually turned out pretty well."

Alya and Nino were sitting up atop their sleeping bag, lazy yellow light creeping in through the unzipped entrance to the tent. The dusty rays settled perfectly on top of Adrien and Marinette, who were both still completely asleep and messily tangled in with each other.

From what they could see, Adrien's forehead was nuzzled into her black hair. Marinette had discarded the flimsy sleeping bag pillow in favour of his well-toned arm, and her left hand was lying flat in his.

Underneath the cover, Adrien had his arm hung over her torso, which rose and fell slowly in sync with his. One of his legs was bent and fell in between her loosely splayed ones, his other foot lightly tickling hers.

*Click*

"Did you just?" Nino asked, dumbfounded.

"Of course," Alya said, putting her phone away. "I need evidence."

"Should we wake them up?"

"Nah. Let them find out for themselves."

* * *

It was almost midmorning by the time Adrien woke up, the inviting smells of breakfast coaxing him out of his dream.

It was a great dream, too- Ladybug was in it.

So was Marinette.

Adrien regarded the lithe girl who lay blissfully asleep in the other half of the sleeping bag. Her pigtails had come completely undone, the thick strands muzzled up between her neck and the pillow. He contemplated waking her up, but decided against it, figuring she'd had a rough night and could use the sleep.

Alya and Nino were outside preparing food and hadn't noticed that he was awake yet, so Adrien took the opportunity to let Plagg out of his backpack.

The little black kwami zoomed out, elegantly stretching his limbs.

"I smell cheese!" He declared, pointedly staring at Adrien, who rapidly shushed him.

"I have some in my bag," he whispered, digging through the pockets. They were empty. "But I guess you already knew that, huh?"

Just as Plagg was going to retort, Marinette let out a groan. Annoyed, he zipped back into the bag, looking longingly outside the tent entrance where he picked up the delicious scents of camembert.

Adrien had specifically requested it for breakfast.

"Marinette?" He said softly, lying back down to prop himself up on his elbow.

"Five more minutes," she muttered, turning away from him.

"That explains why you're always late for school."

He sighed, lying back down on his back. Truth be told, he didn't want to fully get up either, but breakfast was beckoning him, and his stomach was grumbling.

When Marinette finally woke up, the tent was empty, and she quickly got dressed, not remembering the circumstances of the night before. Outside, Alya, Nino, and Adrien were already beginning to pack away the campground, to which she rapidly joined them after some breakfast.

The group soon began their way back to Rouen, all a little sleepy from the previous night. They stopped for a quick lunch at the same boulangerie, and with satisfied appetites and a bit more cheerfulness boarded the train back to Paris.

* * *

"So how did you sleep?" Nino asked Adrien, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the armrest to the beat of the music coming in from one of his headphones.

"Alright," Adrien replied. "Got woken up in the middle, though I can't remember why…"

"Thunder?" Nino suggested.

"No, that's not it." Adrien pondered, lost in thought.

* * *

On the other side of the aisle, Alya had asked Marinette the same thing.

"I had a great dream," the black-haired girl replied happily. "Adrien was there, and he held my hand while we fell asleep," she sighed. "It was the best thing ever!"

* * *

"I got it!" Adrien snapped his fingers, peering at Marinette before turning back to Nino. "It was Marinette. She's afraid of thunder, that's why she woke up."

"She is?" Nino asked doubtfully.

"Yeah," Adrien nodded. "Oh, but maybe she doesn't want anyone to know, she seemed like it was a big deal."

"Mmmhm," Nino replied thoughtfully.

* * *

"Girl, I hate to break it to you," Alya began, pulling her phone out from her pocket. "But that wasn't a dream."

She quickly found the picture and handed the cellphone to Marinette, whose face went from confused to utterly mortified within two seconds.

"Oh my God," she breathed, unwilling to tear her eyes from the screen. "I-I-I-I slept w-with-"

"Adrien" Alya finished for her.

At the sound of his name the blond turned his head to face the two girls, and was met eye to eye with Marinette's very embarrassed and _very red_ face.

 _Shit,_ he thought, turning back to glance at Nino. _She definitely heard me tell Nino she was afraid of thunder. Ummm…. Think Agreste, what do you do?_

"I promise I won't tell anyone else about this!" He spoke up, giving her a thumbs up sign. "It'll stay just between the two of us."

And because he was channelling his inner Chat Noir, he solidified his promise with a tried-and-true-Chat wink. But rather than placating the in-his-opinion rightfully angry girl, it just seemed to make things worse.

Worse, as in her jaw dropped to the floor, and she stared completely dumbfounded at him, eyes rapidly blinking.

"Dude," Nino broke out in laughter. "You broke her!"

"Oh my God," Adrien breathed. "I-I didn't mean for-"

"Good job, Adrien!" Alya grinned, patting her best friend on the back. "That was perfect!"

Marinette didn't utter a single sound the rest of the trip, prompting Adrien to glance at her, concerned, about every ten seconds.

Alya and Nino were texting, happily ignoring the situation going on literally between them.

 _Alya: I believe we've made some serious progress_

 _Nino: Same, but omg Adrien is SO dense_

 _Alya: Yep that just means we have more work to do._

 _Nino: I'm one step ahead of u_

 _Alya: ?_

 _Nino: Convinced Adrien to let us stay in his villa for a few days_

 _Alya: Omg_

 _Nino: I just have one question tho_

 _Alya: What?_

 _Nino: How do you "accidentally" start a flood?_

* * *

 **The Next Day:**

"Ah-ah-ah-CHOO!" Ladybug sneezed, pausing on a building to wipe her nose.

"Bless you!" A voice came from out of nowhere, causing her to jump in response and lose her footing. She tumbled down into the alley, saved only from crashing into the ground by her quick reflexes and magical yo-yo.

"Sorry!" The voice called down from over the edge, and from her position five feet above the cobblestone she could just make out the silhouette of cat ears against the bright white Parisian moon. "Didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine," she called back, leaping down onto the ground. "I've heard too many ghost stories recently, that's all."

"I didn't know my lady was scared of ghosts," Chat Noir leapt down beside her, snickering. "Are you afraid of the bogey man, too?"

"Of course," Ladybug shrugged, and began to list monsters off of her fingers: "Ghosts, vampires, werewolves, monsters, but you know what the scariest one of them all is?"

"What?" He leaned in, curious.

"What I'm most afraid of," her tone gravely serious, "is teenage boys running around dressed in leather catsuits!"

With a laugh and a toss of her yo-yo, she launched herself back up into the air, leaving Chat dumbstruck on the ground below.

A few moments after he caught up with her, swinging between buildings.

"Ouch," he called out, clutching his chest in mock sadness. "That really hurt, you know?"

"Good," she grinned back at him, as they swung into the night.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

WOOOOOO and we're done! I hope you enjoyed that final chapter- it panned out a bit differently than the outline but I hope it still turned out well c:

Please leave feedback, it really makes my day and I appreciate each and every review so much c:

If any of you are interested, the next fic I intend to work on is Felix and Bridgette, and I'm really looking forward to writing it even though Felix's character has been giving me quite a headache this past week!

Thank you for sticking around 'till the end! :D


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